L.O.V.E is in the Air...

Hi Friends.... Anna here from Simply Skilled in Second. I am so excited to share a little bit of love with you today in anticipation of Valentine's Day that is very quickly approaching. I am not sure about you...but WHOA...did January FLY by??!! How in the world did that happen...Christmas feels like it was two days ago...I digress..Onto the LOVE I was telling you about... I wanted to share one of my ALL TIME FAVORITE Books with you today because the main character literally melts my heart. He is so endearing, kind, and sweet and every time I read this book my heart goes pitter-patter :) LOL

If you haven't heard of this story....RUN...or quickly get onto Amazon to pick it up..because you will ADORE it! It is called Somebody Loves You, Mr. Hatch by Eileen Spinelli. Click the book image below to see it on Amazon.com.

And if you have a Smartboard, check out this link below to a video of Hector Elizondo reading this story aloud on Storyline Online.

After I read this story to my little ones, I always to a Character Traits lesson. This book lends itself very well to this skills. I usually begin with creating an anchor chart of all different character traits that Mr. Hatch possesses and write them on the chart. Then I take two of the character traits from the chart and ask my students to "Prove It" that Mr. Hatch possessed these qualities by stating evidence from the book. I write their ideas on the chart paper and we discuss them. After we complete this lesson, my student make Mr. Hatch....Isn't he just the cutest!!??

Inside the heart that Mr. Hatch is holding are "chocolate" character traits! The students write character traits and evidence on the "chocolate-shaped" paper for the inside of the heart. They LOVE this activity and it makes an adorable bulletin board display. If you are interested in snatching up this Mr. Hatch creativity, head on over to my TPT Shop to pick it up. Click the image below to get there.

In the afternoon, we spend some time handing out our valentines to each other and we write valentines to our family members. This year, I am going to give them the option of using my new I Love You flip flap card to give to their parents. If you would like this flip flap card, just click the image below for your freebie!

And if you want to have your little ones practice showin' a little love for Math...check out these awesome February Word Problems from Alyssa at Teaching and Tapas...

These ideas are ours. We joyfully share them with you to use in your own classroom, but never to claim as your own in any fashion. They are the intellectual property of each talented blogger represented here.